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Mike donated both his time and his very first batch of stout this past Saturday to a fantastic fundraiser held by Bay City Brewers, a local organization focused on bringing together friends for beers to support a cause. And luckily, it is not hard to convince your friends to come out and drink good beer and support a charity, so we had a great group join us that day.

Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Bay Area was the beneficiary of the event “St. Patty’s Day – Revisited” where nearly $600 was raised. As a former mentor, I was excited all around to be a part of it.

As I mentioned, this was Mike’s first go at a stout-style beer and I have to say, it turned out fantastic – a creamy mouth feel with a slight roastiness and a smooth finish. Right away I wanted to turn it into ice cream!

Well I didn’t make ice cream, but I did use Mike’s “Cyclo-Stout” in a cupcake recipe to serve along with the beer at the event.

Mouth watering yet?

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

1 Cup Stout Beer (I of course used Mike’s Stout in this case)

1 Cup Unsalted Butter (2 sticks)

3/4 Cup Quality Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

2 Cups Granulated Sugar

1½ Teaspoons Baking Soda

3/4 Teaspoon Salt

2 Large Eggs

2/3 Cup Sour Cream

Irish Cream Buttercream:

4 to 5 Cups Confections Sugar

2 Cups Unsalted butter, at room temperature (4 sticks)

4 to 5 Tablespoons Irish Cream Liqueur

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare the cupcakes: Place butter with the stout beer in a sauce pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a mixer bowl, beat the eggs and the sour cream together. Add the beer/butter/cocoa mixture and beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat briefly just to combine. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined.

Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way if you want flatter cupcakes and 3/4 if you want domed. Bake for about 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely to room temperature.

I decided to make mini-cupcakes to ensure there was enough to go around. Plus they are fun to eat, don’t you think?

Fill 'em up!

Frosting:

In a large mixer bowl, whip the butter for several minutes until very light and fluffy. Slowly add about half of the powdered sugar a few spoonfuls at a time until incorporated. Slowly drizzle the Irish Cream and whip until combined. Add the rest of the powdered sugar until your desired consistency has been achieved.